The Israeli prime minister could soon be removed from office by his ambitious rival, Benjamin Netanyahu, writes David Horovitz in Jerusalem
Facing a political crisis which would be farcical if it were not so critical, Israel's Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, will tomorrow present to his divided cabinet his plan for an Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip.
It is a plan most Israelis support and one the US administration has enthusiastically backed, but it has been rejected by Mr Sharon's own Likud party.
If he ultimately wins his ministers' approval, Mr Sharon's multi-party coalition will start to splinter - with hardline rightist factions breaking away. If he fails, his position may become untenable, and his main rival, Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, may be able to muster sufficient parliamentary support to ultimately depose him.
Mr Sharon has concluded that Israel has every interest in removing the 7,800 Jews who live in 21 small settlements among the 1.3 million Palestinians of Gaza. Since he regards the Palestinian Authority as an untenable negotiating partner, so long as it is headed by Mr Yasser Arafat, he has determined to pull out unilaterally by the end of 2005.
His cabinet opposition is motivated by two imperatives. First, there are ministers from two small rightist parties, the National Union and the National Religious Party, who are ideologically opposed to the dismantling of any settlements under almost any circumstances. Second, there are ministers like Mr Netanyahu from the Likud who insist that Israel should not relinquish territory unless it gets a commitment from a credible Palestinian leadership that such territory will not be used for attacks on Israeli targets.
Having been prime minister himself from 1996 to 1999, Mr Netanyahu, of course, is also motivated by his desire to succeed Mr Sharon, the man to whom he voluntarily relinquished the Likud party leadership - temporarily, he thought - after losing a general election five years ago.
Since the members of the Likud party decisively rejected his Gaza disengagement plan in a referendum he foolishly organised on May 2nd, Mr Sharon has superficially amended the plan, breaking it down into four phases. He had contemplated tabling only phase one, for the dismantling of Gaza's three most isolated settlements, at tomorrow's cabinet meeting. However, after circulating the revised plan (which now specifies that settler homes will be destroyed rather than left for the Palestinians) to his ministers yesterday, and after increasingly fractious contacts with Mr Netanyahu, the prime minister may have decided to go for broke.
Some insiders believe that Mr Sharon may opt for a non-binding debate rather than a vote tomorrow. Others say that the entire plan may be tabled for approval and that Mr Netanyahu and the other ministerial opponents will be asked to put the national interest ahead of their personal ambitions. "He's calling the hardliners' bluff," claimed one aide, adding that, if the gambit failed, the prime minister could call new elections. However, Mr Netanyahu may be able to muster enough votes in parliament to frustrate that move too.